


Cultureshock

by orphan_account



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Gen, Isolation, communication issues, idk what else to tag this, language barriers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-18
Updated: 2016-04-18
Packaged: 2018-06-03 00:16:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6589057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a day or two of frog hunting, Dave realizes that Jade can't understand him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cultureshock

After a day or two of frog hunting, Dave realizes that Jade can't understand him.

His words she can understand, mostly, but his body language, his expressions, his gestures—all seem to fly right over her head. She's not particularly easy to interpret either; she barely uses any kind of body language, she's practically expressionless aside from smiling (he never thought Jade, of all people, would have a better poker face than him), and her speech has strange affectations. She's almost completely monotone, she changes for volume with no discernable reason, and she doesn't change her pitch when she's asking questions, so he's misinterpreted her honest curiosity for sarcasm more than once. Needless to say, they've been having some communication issues.

It finally clicks when they're creeping across the snowy ground and he notices a frog that she doesn't. He taps her on the shoulder and raises a finger to his lips in the universal sign for "quiet."

"What." says Jade loudly.

The frog hops away, but Dave doesn't really register its abrupt exit as the realization dawns on him.

Jade stares at him blankly, her features giving away none of what she might be feeling.

\--turntechGodhead began pestering tentacleTherapist at 12:17am--

TG: hey  
TG: so  
TG: i dont think jade can talk  
TT: What?  
TT: I'm curious as to why you didn't mention this two days ago.  
TT: Regardless, please elaborate.  
TG: like  
TG: she can speak  
TG: but she cant like  
TG: talk  
TT: I'm not following.  
TG: shit its like  
TG: gestures and shit are code yknow  
TG: and shes fuckin learning the basics of language in general  
TG: through like  
TG: duolingo or something  
TG: but a free shitty version  
TG: and im fucking alan turing speaking code and using fucking gestures and shit  
TG: and shes nodding like shes got it but shes just trying to remember the lesson on asking questions  
TG: like im that shitty type of immersive learning language teacher and today is the big test but shes slept through every class  
TG: literally i guess  
TG: get it cause shes narcoleptic  
TG: anyway  
TG: yeah she doesnt understand much  
TT: Interesting.  
TT: I wonder what the cause for her difficulty interacting is?  
TT: She doesn't seem to have similar struggles in written correspondence.  
TG: well her grandpas been dead for like her whole life apparently  
TG: hell of a bomb to drop let me tell you  
TG: 'hey dave nice to meet you'  
TG: 'oh by the way i was actually raised by a radioactive dog on a deserted island'  
TT: That would explain it, I suppose.  
TG: yeah  
TG: anyway like  
TG: its kinda throwing a wrench in the formerly smoothly turning gears of our foolproof badass frog catching universe creating teamwork plan  
TG: so as much as i hate consulting your freudian psychoanalytical fake deep bullshit brain  
TG: what do i do

**Author's Note:**

> this is short and probably unsatisfying at the moment but it is one in the morning and im honestly not sure how to continue at the moment
> 
> anyway ive been toying with the idea for a while of like. jade grew up with pretty much 0 face-to-face contact so her grasp of language and interaction is probably tenuous at best and that wasnt really ever delved into or explained in canon so i wanted to explore it a bit. i post about it more on my tumblr @peachyscented and as always anyone is welcome to come spout depressing meta with me/talk about lesbians


End file.
